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Syracuse city councilors to investigate police policy on use of force

Elijah Johnson, 20, of Liverpool, says police beat him and used

Elijah Johnson, 20, of Liverpool, says police beat him and used racial slurs against him when they wrongfully arrested him after a party in July. Syracuse city councilors will meet Tuesday to investigate whether there has been a pattern of similar allegations.
(Submitted photos)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Noting that some Syracuse residents are "on edge'' over recent allegations of police brutality, city councilors will hold a committee meeting Tuesday evening to investigate the issue.

Hunter

Councilor-at-Large Pamela Hunter, who chairs the public safety committee, said the council will not address specific incidents but will attempt to assess whether there is a systemic problem that requires policy changes.

"It's hard for me to gauge, based on two cases that I've heard on the news, if it's a pervasive problem or whether it's isolated incidents,'' Hunter said. "That's what I'm trying to drill down to.''

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. Police Chief Frank Fowler and his staff are expected to present information. As time permits, Hunter said she will invite members of the public to share their observations. It may be necessary to conduct more than one meeting, she said.

Several recent incidents have raised concerns about excessive police force, said 4th District Councilor Khalid Bey.

"What's happening is disturbing, and we need to get to the bottom of it,'' Bey said. "People are definitely on edge.''

College student Elijah Johnson, 20, of Liverpool, said four police officers punched, kicked and used racial slurs against him while dispersing an early morning crowd July 6 on University Hill. Police declined to comment but indicated in court documents that Johnson had thrown a rock at them, which Johnson denied.

Hospital worker Alonzo Grant, 53, of 105 Hudson St., suffered a concussion, broken nose and cut lip in a June 28 confrontation with police. Grant, who had called 911 to report a dispute at his residence, says an officer charged him without warning, grabbed him in a bear hug and flung him over a stair railing before putting him in a chokehold as another officer struck him repeatedly with his fist. Police charged Grant with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and harassing and annoying police.

Both Grant and Johnson filed complaints with the Citizen Review Board, an independent panel that evaluates complaints against police. But Barrie Gewanter, Syracuse executive director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said some victims are too intimidated to file reports against police. Formal complaints may be "the tip of the iceberg,'' she said.

Gewanter advocates tightening the Syracuse Police Department written policy on the use of force, which states generally that "officers shall employ only the degree force that is necessary to achieve their lawful objectives.'' The department's policy is consistent with state penal law.

Gewanter argues that city police should adopt a more specialized policy developed in recent years by the U.S. Department of Justice, which provides specific guidelines aimed at matching the officer's level of force to the suspect's level of resistance.

The Citizen Review Board recommended in its annual report issued in March that the Syracuse department evaluate its use-of-force policy to make sure it meets the DOJ standard.

"Our police officers work under extremely difficult and stressful circumstances,'' the CRB report said. "A clearer set of rules for the use of force coupled with extensive training on those rules would give officers more confidence in reacting to a variety of different forms of subject resistance, expand their range of responses, and ultimately produce a more flexible and appropriate force response to a given situation.''